Colours of Obsession
A story of how the meeting of three colours finally manages to bring together an unknown romance between an obsessed, in-denial Daphne Greengrass and an equally obsessed, and less in-denial, Harry Potter.
*O*O*O*
"Came in from the outside, burnt out from the joy ride.
She likes to roll here in my ashes anyway."
*O*O*O*
It would be two whole days after the incident at the infirmary that Daphne would speak to Harry again.
During that time, she had been casting subtle wayward glances toward him in classes.
And him…
Well, he had been not-so-subtly winking at her in a rather obnoxiously conspicuous, but cute, fashion. Thankfully, he had the tact to make sure to do so when no one else had been looking.
To Daphne, a Slytherin, his inherent lack of an inconspicuous nature made her go pallid.
It was clear the boy had no sense of secrecy regarding their strange friendship, even with the rumours buzzing about him giving piggyback rides to a mysterious blonde student, which his friends had pestered him about.
She had even worried a little that he had been talking to any of the Gryffindors about what happened between them, though if the lack of a reaction was anything to go by, it seemed that he hadn't brought it up.
She liked it like that. It was like… a cute secret they shared with each other.
Well, her, him… and Tracey.
Speaking of whom…
"...Wooooow, this is boooooring~!" Tracey remarked, idly kicking her legs. They were having Charms now, and the seating arrangement had the class spread out across a large 'C' shaped table. This meant that anyone could look up and see just about everyone in the room. Tracey and Daphne were located on the far end of the 'C' with the rest of the Slythetins, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron were located on the other end with the Gryffindors.
Tracey had her chin on her hand, eyes bored, fingers twirling her wand absently, and was clearly very restless. The words of the Charms Professor were lost on the Davis girl as she glanced past the diminutive figure standing on a small platform in the middle of the table. Instead, she was looking back and forth between Daphne and the special Gryffindor student. It surely seemed as though she was waiting for more steamy things than two students studying and looking at each other.
She did this, over and over and over again.
Daphne felt her eye twitch. The Gryffindor part of Tracey was showing its head again. Seemed like there was some natural correlation between Gryffindors and being annoying in some way, shape, or form.
Honestly, was it too much to ask to be a little inconspicuous?
Then, she followed up with a statement that had floored Daphne.
"You guys have the most boring girlfriend-boyfriend relationship I've ever seen."
"Wha-" Daphne hissed indignantly at that, "We're not like that at all! And could you be any louder?" "
She glanced past Tracey's shoulder and stared at the boy next to her friend.
The boulder of a boy, Crabbe, was sitting next to them, but did not seem to acknowledge their conversation. Instead, he seemed to have been deeply focused on the professor as he taught, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. Tracey glanced over her shoulder to the boy, before looking back to Daphne.
"Meh, it's Crabbe." Tracey snorted, "He's literally asleep right now with his eyes open. Pretty sure he learned how to do it just so he could sleep in class." Then, she brandished her own wand under the table, seemingly pulling it out of the sleeves of her robes.
"Besides, I already cast the Muffliato Charm." That meant that should anyone try and listen in on their conversation, they would only hear the sound of faint buzzing around the girls.
"When did you learn that?" Daphne cocked a brow.
"Snape showed me." Then she smirked, "Rather, I watched him perform it so that he could have private discussions with Malfoy. I saw him cast it enough times to learn how to do it myself."
"You scare me sometimes." Daphne shook her head. Tracey shrugged, a knowing smile on her face.
"It's a pretty handy spell, Daph." She twirled her wand again, "Want me to teach you? You could use it to shack up with Pott—"
"—Maybe next time." Daphne cut her friend off before she could say more.
"Anyway, speaking of shacking up~!" She trilled, tapping her chin, "You guys were totally about to get hot and heavy that day. Why stop now? I'm just bored of seeing all this will-they-won't-they you two are performing now."
Then the girl squealed, laughing, as Daphne jabbed her in the side with a wand.
"We were absolutely NOT about to get… 'hot and heavy'." Daphne's hushed voice and furrowed brows were matched with an ice-cold glare.
*O*O*O*
The night during the infirmary incident, Tracey had forced Daphne to spill the details on what had happened between the pair after they had left for the medical wing.
The pair were situated in their pajamas, seated on the comfy surface of Daphne's large bed, with the curtains around each pillar lowered to hide the two teen snakes. A muffliato had been cast around them, just in case anyone came by and heard their little discussion.
Tracey had watched all sorts of emotions appear on her best friend's face as the pretty blonde detailed in great fashion how she had felt, physically and mentally, throughout the trip. As Daphne spoke, Tracey 'ooh'd' and 'aah'd' throughout, and it hadn't taken long before the brunette's face started flushing at the thought of all her friend had done with Potter.
"So you do like him." Tracey had stated, matter-of-factly.
"Well, I wouldn't say it like that…" The blonde couldn't even meet Tracey's eyes
"Give it up. There's nothing wrong, with it, really!" Tracey placed a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, "Bloody hell, I've been watching you talk about basically stalking this boy for the last three years, Greengrass. Let's not take two steps back and enter denial territory. You have got it bad for him!"
Daphne sighed but denied none of it. Perhaps it was time to face facts. She probably did like Potter. He had been absolutely the right mix of handsome, sweet, kind, and flirty! She felt like she had butterflies in her stomach!
Was this what romantic love felt like? Was she… was she in love?
Truth be told, she was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions, considering the events that had transpired in her first year at the school. She hadn't really interacted with too many boys since then and found it hard to believe in her feelings at the moment. It was all very confusing and she needed more time to think it over.
But meanwhile, she didn't mind spending time with Harry to sort her emotions and thoughts out.
Then, Tracey ripped her out of her thoughts by insisting Daphne act out what had happened, with the Greengrass as Potter, so that she could get the full scope of things.
Thankfully the rest of their shared dorm was not present for all this.
This had the pair pretending to act out the whole scenario from the very beginning on Daphne's bed. Daphne was, understandably, hesitant to do this. The whole experience, while positive overall, had been extremely embarrassing to look back on. She could not believe the actions and words that had come to her so naturally.
And after all, best friend or not, this was a very awkward topic for her to share and tackle directly. Still, Tracey had assured her that none of this would ever be shared from her lips, despite her love of gossip.
Daphne trusted her enough to do so, being prompted to under the impression that it would help her address her feelings.
And so, with nothing to lose, they acted it out from start to end.
*O*O*O*
After all, was said and done, Daphne and Tracey were lying side by side on the bed, panting ever so slightly.
Moments ago, Daphne had pinned down an equally red-faced Tracey to the very spacious bed, like how Harry had done to her after their little tumble. Both girls could feel their hearts beating in their chests at just how close they were to each other. So close that they could lean forwards ever so slightly, and they'd already be having their first kiss.
Then Daphne let go of her friend and rolled to the side.
There was a comfortable silence as both pondered the situation.
Daphne was still thinking about the entirety of the events. Acting all that out had not really made things any less confusing to her.
Tracey was… Well, she was—
"Oof," Daphne grunted as her friend straddled her waist.
—She was now grabbing Daphne by the shoulders, shaking her wildly against the bed.
"Argh! How did you guys totally not just start snogging then?!" Tracey had wailed in disappointment and disbelief. She had no idea how the pair hadn't sealed the moment with a kiss. "It was perfectly set up!"
"Like I told you, if I'm getting kissed for the first time, it better be somewhere romantic! And not when I've still got a broken nose!" Then Daphne had made it clear that she was not the kind of girl that anyone could kiss on anything less than a proper date.
"You sure you guys didn't… ya know?" Tracey was looking down on her friend with a massive grin, making a rather crude gesture with her hands that Daphne recognised to have been the universal sign for 'having sex'.
There was that Gryffindor behaviour she normally saw in Tracey.
"Don't be childish, we did no such thing!" Daphne had vehemently protested, before shoving her friend off of her. Tracey landed on her back softly, her hands still performing the vulgar gesture. "He ju— I had— We just fell onto the bed, and then we stared at each other!"
"You're lucky he didn't just go feral right there and then." Tracey snickered, "I think most boys in that position, with a cute girl under them looking like that, would have definitely hedged their bets on a kiss, at the very least, in the heat of the moment."
Tracey then began to fill the air in front of her with mock kisses, her arms outstretched in front of her as if they were wrapped around the back of an invisible person.
"I know I wouldn't mind, hehe…" Tracey giggled, talking to her imaginary kissing partner. "Oh wow, you're such a good kisser, Mr Man."
At that, Daphne rolled her eyes at how childish she was being. Though, she thought back to that look of hunger in his eyes when she had been pinned down. It was like she had been a rabbit in front of a hungry, salivating wolf.
She didn't know why that thought made her heart start to race again.
Then she remembered the earnest, genuine smiles he had given her.
"Yes… but I'm glad he turned out to be an absolute gentleman."
"I wonder how your sister is going to take this news." The off-handed comment from Tracey had caused Daphne to have a sharp intake of air between clenched teeth, her face wincing at the thought.
"Yes… I'll have to… ease… Astoria into all of this…"
Tracey giggled at the older Greengrass' response of having to potentially speak to her sister about her 'boyfriend'.
"Anyway, it sounds like he passes your expectations… So, what now?"
*O*O*O*
What now, indeed?
Daphne had still been thinking about it.
She supposed, given her last words to Harry, that the proverbial ball was in her hypothetical court, and that she would have to be the one to make the first move. Thus, after managing to shoo a disappointed Tracey away, she had finally worked up the nerve to approach him after their Charms class.
Seeing her walking his way with a look in her eye, Harry must have known her intentions. He had excused himself from his group of friends and headed for her with the intention to meet her halfway.
They met, and suddenly the corridor was desolate. It was just the two of them again. All alone. Just like the last time.
Harry was towering over her, a lazy smile on his handsome features. Daphne opened her mouth to speak but found no words. Instead, she saw the memories of Harry pinning her down against the bed filled her mind.
Now popping to the forefront of her mind, there were even the dreams she had after the incident. Of Harry peppering her with passionate kisses. From her lips, to her cheeks, to her neck, and then her collarbone. She lay under him, mewling at each time his lips would brush against her skin. She had been completely helpless. She was melting like butter under his scorching kisses and burning touch…
Then the familiar face of Tracey Davis' disembodied head popped out of nowhere in her mind. There was that dumb grin on her face again, chuckling as her hands began performing that graphic gesture again.
Argh, stupid Tracey. Damn, that girl for putting that thought in her head that night she spilled the beans.
As she stood there, trying to initiate the conversation, she found herself still choking on her words.
Wow! Why was this suddenly so hard?
She never had an issue before addressing him. For years, she had been cool, calm, and collected. And now here she was acting like a schoolgirl in front of her crush, which, to be fair, she was by all definitions.
Then, she took a deep breath and schooled her features, praying that the pink tint on her cheeks wouldn't give her away.
"Don't suppose you're much good in Charms, are you Harry?" Daphne had finally managed to inquire, holding her books close to her chest. Harry's lazy smile turned into a thoughtful purse of his lips.
"...I can't say I am, Daphne." He shrugged a frown on his lips now. "In fact, I might even say that I would require having a… 'personal tutor'."
That last part had been extra hushed, and half-lidded green eyes gazed back down at her. Daphne felt a shiver go down her spine from the look, as well as the manner of tone he had switched to.
Ugh! As much as she may (or may not!) have secretly liked it, she hated being the only one that felt this way! Who gave him the right to be acting like he was some suave ladykiller when just two days ago they had both been as bright as strawberries?
She absolutely wanted to be the one to make him embarrassed talking to her too! Let it be known that Daphne Greengrass would not be ruled so easily.
She two could play at that game!
Immediately, she softened her expression, widened her eyes, pouted her lower lip, and looked about as innocent and adorable as a newborn doe. She uncharacteristically started to sway back and forth, giving herself a rather timid energy.
This had not been lost on Harry, who saw through her tricks but could not help himself from falling for it.
"And how's your Defense Against the Dark Arts?" She inquired aloud, despite knowing exactly how well Harry scored in the subject over the last few years.
"Uh… Pretty good, I'd reckon." His mind had shut down for a moment before he found his words, looking a bit more sheepish than before with her new deposition. He had that dumb smile on his face again. He had also held his books between his forearm and his chest, and Daphne couldn't help but imagine… someone… in that position.
He had dropped the 'try-to-be-sexy' charade and was now looking a lot more earnest.
"I was just looking for someone in that department to lend me a hand with my practices."
"Icandefinitelyhelp!" Harry said, perhaps a little too fast for his own liking.
"Hmmm, great! Then I suggest that we find the time to help…"
Daphne dug deep and tapped into the source of femininity that hid just under her surface. She went on auto-pilot, allowing her body to do whatever it needed to elicit a reaction from Harry.
The gorgeous Slytherin dropped her innocent facade, and all the flirtatious energy that Harry had been leveling at her for the last few days came slamming back into him at double the force.
She released a dainty hand from the books she held close to her and stuck a finger out against the book. The tip of her fingernail trailed against where his chest would have been had it not been for the hardcover of his books. She circled it around and around, before finishing her statement.
" …each other in our… education." She imitated his earlier hushed tone, and she could see the raven-haired teen visibly gulp down an excited whimper. She swore she saw his knees buckle ever so slightly. Now it was Harry's turn to turn a shade of pink, though he had not lost the smile on his face.
Teasing him was great fun. And so was finally getting to weaponize her feminity!
"I think that sounds like a fair trade." Harry nodded, perhaps a little too excitedly. "Meet you in the library after classes today?"
"Sounds like a plan." Daphne had agreed, "I'll see you then, Harry."
*O*O*O*
It was quickly after dinner that Harry excused himself from his group of friends. They hadn't thought much of it, considering he had been keeping to himself for what would be the better part of a year already.
Hermione had initially been interested to spend time with him considering he was studying a lot more now, but had found it rather difficult as Harry had insisted on studying while performing his exercises, which was a little distracting for the poor girl to say the least. Thus, she had opted to take a step back and give him his privacy. Meanwhile, Ron had no interest in either, choosing to play chess with Neville over anything else.
Thus, he was able to slip away without much questioning nowadays.
It was sometime around five to six in the evening, which meant that he had plenty of time to spend with Daphne in what would be their first, official time together outside of classes.
He had made his way out of the castle and over to the grassy knolls overseeing the Great Lake, as per her request. From here, he could see Hagrid's hut, the soft glow of orange lights from his frost windows told Harry that the man was still inside. The Forbidden Forest loomed behind it like a Dementor, as imposing as it had been from his first year at the school.
He glanced to the other side and caught sight of the beautiful blonde that was now making her way up the small hill.
Harry rushed to meet her, sticking his hand out for her to take in a very gentlemanly fashion, and helped her up the slightly slippery grass. Daphne gave him a bemused smile at this but had not said anything besides a quiet thanks once he had helped her up to the top.
"Alright, let's not dilly-dally. There's only so much sun in a day." Her voice seemed much more prim and proper, and he realised that he recognised a striking similarity in it from Professor McGonagall.
She slipped out of the black-green house robes she wore, allowing them to fall to her feet. Harry followed suit. They were back in the same attire they wore two days ago, sans the blood. Daphne then took her hair into a thick bundle and wrapped it into a lazy bun behind her. With a swish, her wand was in her grasp and ready to be used.
"Come, Mr Potter, let's begin our Charms lessons, shall we?" Daphne addressing Harry as 'Mr Potter' had the boy smirking. With her hair done up now and the poise of a professor she had taken up, he couldn't help but imagine Daphne with a pair of small glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose and a tight, form-fitting short skirt that hugged her waist, exposing those creamy thighs.
Truth be told, that would do it for him. She'd make a fantastic professor.
Well, the boys would probably be drooling too hard over her to be passing her classes. Hell, even he was struggling not to lose it in front of her.
He just made a mental reminder and set it aside for future reference.
If they ever started dating… well, he hoped she wouldn't be too put off by a little bit of… dress up fun.
"No witty retort, Mr Potter?" She placed a hand on her hip, pretending to really be a professor.
He shook his head lightly and drew his wand.
He promised himself to behave and cut back on the flirting whenever she was teaching him. The last thing he needed was for her to grow tired of his wisecracks.
No, right now, he wanted to impress her as an ideal student and also actually polish his knowledge of Charms.
Still, it didn't hurt to dream here and there.
"No, Professor Greengrass. I'm ready to learn." Daphne rolled her eyes but said nothing.
"Right, first things first, we'll begin with a simple one… Accio." She performed the movements with a swish of her hand, Harry forcing his focus from all her gorgeous features, which were now bathed in the glorious orange glow of the setting sun.
"Uh, I didn't catch that." Harry at least had the nerve to admit he hadn't been paying attention, "Could you do it again?"
"Don't be disheartened if you don't get it right the first time, Mr Potter." Daphne managed a smirk at him, "Boys your age are easily distracted."
He smiled back sweetly at her.
"Oh, with you around, Professor Greengrass, I think I'll manage just fine."
*O*O*O*O*
The sun had vanished beyond the horizon, but its orange glow still permeated the darkening sky.
It was about an hour and a half later that Harry had gotten a solid grasp on the first of the charms that Daphne had taught him. Accio.
They were supposed to know this for the current year, and Harry thought it was an awfully useful spell. Would've definitely been useful in the past, though he doubted that he'd have been able to learn such a complex spell back then.
A general lack of interest in books and a mischievous mindset had stunted his growth as a young wizard.
Regardless, it was nice to know that with the determination he had developed over the last year of non-stop training, and with a bit of self-application on his part to learn, he could make considerable leaps and bounds in spellcasting that he had struggled with over the last few years in school. Another example would be when he had learned the Patronus charm from Professor Lupin last year. Lupin had been very clear on just how difficult it would be to learn, yet Harry had managed to do so considerably faster than expected thanks to his new frame of mind and a lot of focus.
Whether it was because he was a good student, or because she thought herself a good teacher, Daphne too seemed very pleased with him based on the proud smile on her face.
Then she clapped her hands, gaining his attention once more.
"Now, you've definitely learned the spell. But it will take a lot more practice before you can truly say you've mastered the spell. And, if you practice even more, you can call things that are further away at a much faster speed."
Harry had gotten the hang of casting it at a fairly average level and thought it useful to learn how to cast a little faster. It would definitely be far more useful if he could pull objects to him a lot faster.
"Next, we'll be practicing the banishing charm." Daphne got into position and began showing Harry the required movements as well as any one of their professors.
She then Accio'd a nearby pebble to her, catching it in her open palm. Then she turned to face the Forbidden Forest, and with a quick shout of 'Depulso!', she launched the rock a fair distance away. It quickly vanished amidst the trunks of the large trees and was now just another stone scattered in the woods.
Daphne turned to him, a small, proud smile on her face as if to say 'Look at me, I'm a great witch!'
"Fantastic form, professor." Harry spared her a golf clap as if she had just landed a hole-in-one.
"Okay, now you try."
This charm was definitely going to come in handy. He was thankful for the pretty blonde that he was getting a considerable headstart on learning for this year.
Maybe if he was fast enough, he could have even more free time to ask Daphne out.
Well, at least he planned to.
Stretching his shoulders, he got into his stance and began to follow her instructions…
*O*O*O*O*
By the end of their lesson, the night was starting to fall on the pair.
Daphne assessed today's lesson as quite a resounding success. Harry was making incredible progress with his learning. While Daphne had taken about five hours to properly learn how to cast Accio herself, and even longer for Depulso, he had gotten the hang of casting both the spells during their four-and-a-half-hour lesson.
Currently, Harry's Depulso was nothing to write home about. It was still a work in progress for the boy. The furthest he could launch a pebble was about two to three meters. But, at his pace, she was certain that in a few more lessons, he'd already had it down better than some of their older peers who'd have had years of practice.
Chalk that up to either his natural talent, her ability to teach, or some unknown third variable. Any way you sliced it, he was making considerable progress.
She thought back to what he had said, about him not being particularly good at charms. She rolled her eyes at that very blatant lie.
As they started to make their way down the small hill and back towards the castle. Harry had yet again lent Daphne his hand, which she had gratefully taken. Thankfully the sun was already long gone, their path back-illuminated only by the moonlight. Harry couldn't see the soft pink that tinged her porcelain skin as she felt his hand carefully take hers.
The comfortable silence was broken when Harry spoke up.
"Any idea when you'd be free for my class, Daphne?" Harry was beaming down on her, a glitter of childish excitement in his eyes, as if he was going to prank her. Daphne paled. She hoped not. The last thing she wanted was to get shamed by the handsome boy walking next to her.
"I think I'd be free this coming Friday." Daphne had said, after a moment of thinking, "I've already promised tomorrow's spare time to my sister—"
"Your sister?" Harry had suddenly said before he remembered. "Oh, yes. I do recall there being another Greengrass joining us this year. I didn't even make that connection." He muttered the last part to himself, which she sighed at.
She was still thinking about how she'd approach her Astoria with the news of Harry. Especially with Tracey constantly hounding her about it so openly, it was only a matter of time before she learned her older sister may have had a thing for the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Yes, my sister, Astoria Greengrass, has joined Hogwarts as a first-year — in Slytherin, somehow..."
The idea that her older sister could possibly have a boy she liked would probably send the younger Greengrass bouncing off the walls of the castle in excitement. Very Gryffindor-ish.
Perhaps, it was best to rip the bandaid right off and tell it to her straight?
Whatever the case was, Daphne shoved the idea to the back of her mind. She would have to deal with her soon enough anyway.
Soon enough, the pair found themselves inside the castle. They had walked together, going as far as they could until they were required to separate. One had to rise up the shifting stairs to the Gryffindor Tower, and the other had to retreat down to the Slytherin Dungeons.
It was also only then that they realised that they were still holding hands.
They both shared an 'eep!' before separating, taking a step back from each other with awkward smiles on their face.
"Sorry," Harry began, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't— I-I w-wasn't…" He had fallen back into being that stuttering boy she had first bumped into days ago, struggling to find his words.
"I-It's alright." The blonde snickered. In truth, she felt the same way, but was playing it off far better than Harry since it had been his hand around hers, "I… I didn't mind."
Daphne quietly told herself that Harry's awkward smile would never get old to her.
"Then… I suppose this is where we go our separate ways." Harry smiled, "Good night, Daphne."
Daphne smiled too, thinking about the time they had spent today. She liked how it had felt. She wanted to spend more days with him. And she would be, based on the plans they had made, much to her growing anticipation.
"Good night, Harry. I'll see you soon."
*O*O*O*O*
Ascending the steps with haste, Harry told the Fat Lady the password and was quickly granted access to the Gryffindor common rooms. He waved a quick goodnight to Ron and Neville, who were still playing chess by the large fireplace and headed to their bathroom for a quick shower.
Wiping the grime off of himself under the steamy, hot waters from the sweat he had worked up from practicing his spell casting, Harry's mind was still focused on the lessons Daphne had guided him through. His eyes were shut, and he was quietly reciting the spell to himself, his empty hand swishing his imaginary wand through the water that pounded down upon his bare frame.
He did this over and over again, until he was properly satisfied, then moved on to the second spell. He repeated this once more for a few minutes, the water still beating down his back, before he nodded and called it a day on the training.
Sure, he was no slouch in charms, but he hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't fantastic at it. But Daphne had been quite the teacher, and her lessons were quite effective on him. He doubt that he'd have paid as much attention to Professor Flitwick if he had been the one teaching him the two charms instead.
Then he thought about earlier when he hadn't even realised he was still holding her hand from when he had helped her down the hill after their lesson. He glanced down at his fingers, flexing them. Then he shut his eyes and sighed. He could still feel her hand in his.
He liked that smile she'd give him whenever he began turning into a stammering fool.
That amused cute amused smile…
Then the smile seemed to grow. Like a Boggart, it swished and swirled, morphing into a humanoid shape, its details only becoming clear seconds later. Even before it was done transforming, Harry already recognised who it had been.
It was Daphne.
Greengrass…
Professor Greengrass…
Then the girl he had just bid good night to started to change again ever so slightly. She grew a few inches taller, her clothes shifted, and now… Well, now Harry was staring into the face of a twenty-something-year-old, blue-eyed, bespectacled, blonde-bunned witch. She was drop-dead gorgeous and had on light red lipstick that drew his attention to her plump lips.
They were all alone, in the middle of a classroom that hung over the void in his mind.
The white collar shirt she had worn earlier now had three buttons undone from the top to her midriff. Her fairly-sized bust was now spilling out of her shirt, a bra the same colour as her eyes holding back her breasts from his wide-eyed stare.
Her tight skirt was raised ever so slightly and accentuated those curves from her waist to her hips. The older form of Daphne was sitting on the desk with her legs crossed at the knees, giving him a pleasant view of those legs he liked so very much.
Then she leaned back and put her feet up on the desk, and opened her thighs to him.
A bright light shone from within, overtaking his vision.
Of course, he didn't really have an idea of what girls looked like down there. So he had substituted it to the best of his abilities.
Whatever it was, he was sure it was great.
Truly, this teen had zero knowledge in regard to the biology of a witch.
Harry, still in the shower with his eyes closed, couldn't help but give an uncontrolled dopey smile.
In the real world, water was trickling from his head into his mouth, and was spilling out his now gaping maw like he was a statue spitting water from a fountain, but Harry was so deep in his little dreamscape, he didn't react at all.
"Blaarrrggghggh…" He gurgled aloud with the water still in his mouth.
He looked so stupid right now.
Then Professor Greengrass had shut her legs, the light contained within her skirt dimming. In his mind, Harry found his vision again and saw that she was now beckoning him to her. He floated on over, completely entranced, as if he were some kind of cartoon character that could defy the laws of physics and gravity.
Now, in front of her, Harry realised he wasn't wearing any clothes in this daydream either. He felt oddly comfortable despite the situation. The imaginary professor reached her hand out and, like she had done in the real world this morning, traced her finger along his bare chest.
He stopped breathing, both in his mind and in reality.
Hard to do so really, with his mouth full of water and whatnot.
Her arms reached out and wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him in close…
As the warm waters caressed his skin in reality, much like the sensual professor in his mind, Harry couldn't help but gasp at the imagined sensations he felt.
"Ghhhkkk!"
In reality, of course, this had not been so easy. He sharply sucked in a lungful of the warm waters that had pooled in his mouth. And just like that, like a book snapping itself shut, the classroom, the sexy professor, and the very excited teen had all poofed out of existence from his mind.
He was forcibly dragged from his dreamscape, his eyes now shot wide open, and back to the quiet and empty Gryffindor bathroom as he literally started to drown on dry land.
What an idiot.
Eyes bulging out of his head, Harry bent forwards. He hacked, heaved, and coughed, clutching his throat and spitting up the water he had sucked up right back out. He pounded at his chest with his fist, trying to cough up the last of the water in his lungs. With a few rattled gasps, Harry blinked his eyes before he collected himself.
Blimey, had he really almost just killed himself from a daydream in the toilet?
He could see the headlines of the Prophet announcing his untimely death in massive, bolded text if they found his dead body tomorrow.
"THE 'BOY-WHO-DIED'! SURVIVOR OF 'YOU-KNOW-WHO' FOUND DEAD IN GRYFFINDOR DORMITORY FROM FREAK TOILET ACCIDENT!" The thought of a very attractive, older Daphne was now replaced by the mockery that would surely follow his stupid death. He could already see it now, Malfoy and his goons handing out the papers for free to everyone in school. Not that he'd need to, but just because he'd want to.
He would absolutely not allow someone like Malfoy to get the last laugh on him.
Speaking of Professor Greengrass…
Harry looked down and realised that in all of his dreaming, a particular part of his body had begun to respond to those naughty images in his head. His other head was now a little too excited.
No! He mentally chided himself.
Bad Harry! Bad!
He shut the water off, wrapped a towel tightly around his waist, and retreated back to his shared bedroom with a great deal of realised shame on his face.
Nearly slipping over on that wet patch on the way out had been the icing on this incredibly mortifying cake.
*O*O*O*O*
After that particular ordeal, Harry had quickly retired to his shared chambers, calmed himself and his raging hormones down a little, and finished clothing himself in his nightwear.
He would likely never mention that embarrassing close call to anyone for as long as he lived.
Survived the Dark Lord and a multitude of attempts on his life, only to die drowning in the Gryffindor showers? Not exactly the most heroic way to go out.
Now dressed in a sleeveless shirt and a pair of long, loose plaid trousers, he made his way over to his desk, brandishing his quill in one hand and a blank parchment in another. A quick glance around told him that the coast was clear of any nosy roommates. No one was to know that he was writing to this particular person.
With the quill, he quickly jotted down the name of the person he was sending this secretive letter to.
Sirius Black.
It had been a while since he had last written a letter to Sirius. Not since the end of the school last year, just before summer had started for them. Thus, Harry figured now would be a good time to catch him up on what had happened in the months since then.
Harry wrote and wrote, explaining to Sirius how he had avoided going to the Quidditch World Cup and had thus thankfully missed the encounter with the group of Death Eaters.
He talked about his newfound friendship with Daphne and the private lessons they would be giving each other.
Harry also asked for advice on girls, jotting down his romantic interest in Daphne to Sirius. This was something he had wished he could confide in a father figure for. Not someone like Dumbledore, of course. Nor someone like Mr Weasley. Would've been far too awkward for him to have a discussion about liking girls his age with them.
So Sirius was logically the best choice.
And lastly, he noted down one other detail that had been quietly bothering him for a while now, one that he wanted Sirius to know about too.
The sharp, familiar pain that had come from his scar during the summer break. As well as the vague vision of Wormtail and what looked like a deformed Voldemort scheming in the dark, killing an elderly man with a deadly green curse that had made his scar throb painfully.
Wishing Sirius the best wherever he was hiding in the world, Harry finished his letter and sealed it in an envelope, hoping to pass it to Hedwig tomorrow. He knew his owl could reliably track and deliver the letter to his godfather.
Harry gently touched the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The usual crippling headache hadn't been as painful as it had been in past years when it had hit him during the summer break.
He didn't know if it was due to his increased physical strength and mental fortitude, or for some other unknown reason that had to do with magic.
All he knew was that he had to prepare himself this year for anything. Because whatever the case was, he could tell that trouble was brewing on the horizon.
And when it came, he knew he needed to be ready for it.
*O*O*O*O*
Chapter 3: End.
*O*O*O*O*
A/N:
Believe it or not, I had to cut down on the initial chapter size even with the outline I created because I couldn't stop expounding on all the stuff. What was initially supposed to be one chapter will now, likely, be two... or three. Hopefully just two.
Apologies if you guys think the story's a little too draggy at the moment, but I do believe some of the setup pre-Tournament is necessary for how this fic is planned to end.
In any case, the next chapter is pretty much all but written already. I'm going to likely post it in about another two days. Meanwhile, I'll work on editing and refining it while working on the start of the chapter after that. Will take a short break during that period though as I've just been writing this fanfic pretty much non-stop ever since I first posted the first chapter.
I also hope you guys find the shower scene with Harry as amusing as it was for me to write out. I figured Harry could come off as a Gary Stu right now, and wanted to just show that he's still about as dumb, silly, and awkward as he usually is, even if he sometimes pretends like he isn't.
In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. If you did, please feel free to review it. Reviews are my favourite form of interaction. I love reading how people feel about my stories, whether it be good or bad.
Thanks again for reading, and I hope you all have a pleasant day.